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Season 11 of "Hawaii Five-O" was simply awful. After 10 really good seasons, the writers were having a hard time coming up with good scripts. After all, the show seemed to have covered about everything. However, "The Execution File" took me by surprise--it was highly original plus I think on a gut level, most folks will really enjoy watching the vigilante at work.

The show begins with a pimp being shot in front of many witnesses. This was a very difficult shot considering the gunman was using a snub-nosed .38. However, as the show progresses, the incredible shooting got even more incredible--perhaps too incredible--and that is the episode's one weakness. I mention additional shootings because it seems that whoever it is, he's killing pimps and is very proud of his work--so proud that after each death, he sends a letter to the papers with a long list of sleazy activities each dead man had done. Clearly he was their executioner.

Early on in the show, you learn that the killer is an ex-cop. Russ Hendrix (Robert Loggia) is a man on a mission. This isn't just killing pimps but it goes way beyond this. It seems that he's now a private detective specializing in locating underage girls on the streets. His killing these pimps was because these guys were whoring out underage girls and he has a connection to them you'll learn about through the course of the show. Russ also has devoted his life to taking care of a young orphan, Lureen--and he envisions himself becoming her new father once his pimp-killing days are behind him.

I think the show works for four reasons. First and most obvious is that audiences like seeing pimps killed. Maybe it's not right, but it's satisfying watching these exploiters of the underage girls get justice. Second, there really isn't any other episode of the show like it. Third, and this part appealed to me the most, was that there was a creepy psychological side to it. Russ killed pimps and loved Lureen like a daughter--but his feelings and hers ran a bit deeper. Perhaps an analyst might think that he was murdering pimps because, on some deeper level, he was struggling with his own feelings of attraction for Lureen. Interesting and creepy--and rather brave, as the show actually made this point late in the episode. Finally, it worked so well because Loggia really did a nice job as the guest star. All in all, proof that not everything in season 11 was bad after all!

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